Charm School Magic
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: When Karin finds an odd device, she had no idea she was reviving a lost school for magic! Can she learn to master her new power and help the others like her, or will she crash before she truly learns how to fly? And why do most of the people with similar powers keep turning out to be in her brother's small group of friends? All the new devices based on Yu-Gi-Oh! Charmers
1. Chapter 1

_My name is Karin Kurosaki. I am a fairly ordinary 12 year old girl with a rather crazy family. There is my twin sister Yuzu (fraternal twin, since we look nothing alike), my older brother Ichigo (he was the only one to inherit mom's orange hair color for some reason) and the old goat face... I mean my father Isshin._

_I like to play sports, read and watch magical girl anime...so long as the main character isn't a total wimp who cries all the time._

_I used to think that Ichigo was the only weird one of the family because he acknowledged the ghosts that kept following him. (I see them all the time too, but I more or less ignore them and they do the same.)_

_But all that changed the day I found a power I didn't even know I had. It had all started like a usual day..._

* * *

Karin kicked the ground. Things were so boring around here since Ichigo started to see the ghosts more clearly.

As she walked to the field, she noticed an odd glint. She was bored enough that she went to investigate it.

It was a red bauble that kind of looked like a candy of sorts. It didn't look dangerous, so she picked it up. If it was a candy, she would just drop it and wash her hands with the water she had in her bag.

It was warm...but it wasn't sticky at all. It almost looked like a ruby of sorts.

She put it into her pocket and went back to the field. The guys were waiting for her so they could play soccer.

* * *

Karin lay in her room, looking at the red ball she found. It looked so ordinary.

Soon her eyes closed and she fell asleep. She was still tired from playing earlier.

_~Are you my new master?~_

Her eyes shot open. Where did that voice come from?

_~Are you my new master?~_

Karin knew it wasn't from nearby and that the voice was in her head. Yuzu would have spoken up if it was someone talking.

_Who's there?_ Karin asked in her mind. She felt a little silly doing that, but then again she was hearing voices.

_~You can hear my voice. Are you my master?~_

_Who are you?_

_~My designation is Blazing Soul. I have been searching a long time for a new master.~_

_What happened to your old one?_

_~Master Hiita was sealed away, and her powers were almost stolen. I am all that is left of her.~_

_Why was she sealed away?_

_~A bad mage wanted her power over flames. She placed most of her abilities and spells into me to keep him from stealing that power.~_

_What do you want me to do?_

_~If you can hear my voice, you potential to use me. I can teach you magic, if you like.~_

_You mean I can be a magical girl?_

_~If you have the ability, I can make you into one.~_

_What do I have to do?_

Karin paused as she felt the ball light up in her hands. The warmth grew in intensity until it was almost unbearable, yet her hands didn't feel burnt.

_~You have great magical potential. It has yet to fully awaken, but it is there.~_

_Can we see if I can use you tomorrow? I'm really tired from today._

_~Alright.~_

* * *

Karin found an empty lot that most people avoided. It used to be a hospital until people started to die in it rather frequently. Some even said that there was a ghost that lived there.

Karin heard something screaming, but she ignored it.

_~If you want to use me, you must use the activation password. Depending on magical ability, the staff and barrier jacket may not appear.~_

_Then let's get started. What's the password?_

_~Please repeat after me.~_

"_A passionate soul, engulfed in flames._

_An inferno raging without pause._

_A charm that protects without question._

_A fire that heals for the love of it's master._

_That which holds the spirit of flame, awaken!_

_Blazing Soul, Set Up!"_

Karin could sense the flames engulf her body, but the feeling didn't feel bad. It felt right. Her clothes burned away with the sacred flames, and became something new.

She had a black top over a sweater that was open to the third to last button. There was a darker tan belt with a red furry pouch on her left side. She had light purple wrist guards that reached to her hand and were fingerless. Her bottom was a light black skort (a skort is a skirt with shorts sewn inside) and long light colored leggings that went past her knees. Her boots were black in color and they went up to her knees. The last part of her outfit was a tan coat that had a light green color on the inside and had a lot of pockets.

In her hands was a long golden staff that looked like an oversized torch. The sphere she picked up was emitting the flames. Under the torch part was a lighter golden wrap.

When the flames died down, Karin got a good look at her new outfit.

"WOW! This is so cool!"

~Your magical potential is higher than expected.~

"You don't need to tell me that. I wasn't expecting an entirely new outfit."

~Your outfit was not the only thing that was changed. Please look for a mirror.~

"Huh?"

Karin reached into the pouch...and found a small hand mirror. She didn't know what was in that thing, but she got the feeling it was full of useful stuff.

"EH?! What happened to my hair and my eyes?!" said Karin in shock.

Karin originally had black hair that almost went down to her neck and brown eyes. She now had light crimson scruffy hair that went down to her neck and flame red eyes.

~It appears that your soul and that of my Mistress are similar enough for you to Unison with her spirit. Do not worry, once you release the barrier jacket the change will reverse.~

"So this isn't permanent?"

~No. It is only active until you turn off the jacket.~

"Well that's good to hear. So what now?"

~If you like, we can practice magic.~

Karin grin. Her new look included elongated fangs of sorts, but that was just a minor change.

By the time Karin returned home, she had learned quite a few things about her new device.

For starters, it was a flame based device that had a lot of power to it. It also allowed her to fly, which she decided to try as soon as she knew about it.

Karin got the feeling she was going to have a lot of fun practicing with that. Her shooting was off (she could create small balls of flame that she could use to blast away targets) but that wasn't anything a little practice couldn't fix.

* * *

**My master! She has awakened! Has the seal been broken?**

A red flash of light flew through the night sky, heading to a town filled with spiritual power.

Karin sat up in her bed, feeling as though something was coming. She looked to the sky, and noticed her sister's blanket had fallen off again. She smiled, and got up to replace it.

Whatever it was could be dealt with in the morning. Tomorrow was her day off and she intended to spend it training with Blazing Soul.

She yawned, and curled up with Blazing Soul in her hands as she fell back asleep.

Karin used her flame attack to strike at the coke cans. Her accuracy was getting a lot better, and she could hold the ball out a lot longer now.

Just as she was about to knock the can in the recycling bin, she paused. She kept the can in the air by having the flame continuously striking it. Something was in her spot.

"Who's there?!" she called out.

The bushes rustled, and she turned. Something was in them.

**~Master, you're back!~**

"Eh?"

A red blur tackled her, causing her to lose her concentration. It was a tiny red fox with a flame at the tip of it's tail. It was as red as the pouch on her side.

**~Master, why didn't you call me when the seal broke?~**

"Um...who are you?"

~Master Karin, this is a Fox Fire spirit that Mistress Hiita turned into her familiar. I was unaware that it was nearby.~

The fox fire looked at Karin with interest.

"You look a lot like Mistress Hiita!" it said.

"You...can talk. Why am I not surprised?"

"Sorry for confusing you with Mistress Hiita..." it said.

"It's okay. According to Blazing Soul my soul and hers are on the same length, so she can synchronize with me whenever the barrier jacket is on. So do you have a name?"

"Mistress Hiita always called me Hono. But I think that's cause she didn't have much imagination," said the fox.

"Do you mind if I gave you a name?"

"Sure!" chirped the fox. He could already tell that he and the new user of Blazing Soul would get along great.

"How about...Kurama. You kinda remind me of that fox on _Naruto._"

A bright red circle appeared beneath the two.

"What the heck is this?"

~This is your magical circle. If you would like, you can bind this fox fire as your familiar the same way Mistress Hiita once did. A familiar can protect and serve you for as long as your magic connects.~

"So what you're saying is that it's a pet that is more useful than the usual variety of magical animal familiars?" she said.

Blazing Soul often watched the same magical girl animes with Karin. It wasn't impressed with the magical animals that the shows had either.

~A bound familiar can fight alongside it's master.~

"...Definitely more useful than the standard magical pet. Alright, so how do I do this?"

Kurama rode on her shoulder all the way to her house, where her father was waiting.

"Hey dad...this fox kept following me around. Can I keep it?"

Isshin took a good long look at the red fox. It didn't have any odd reishi and he didn't think it was like Yoruichi.

"As long as you take care of it, and keep it out of the clinic you can keep it."

"Thanks goat face!" said Karin with a grin.

**~So Karin, you live above a clinic?~**

_Yeah. My dad runs this small clinic, and often goes to medical seminars to stay up to date. You pretty much have the run of the house, so long as you don't disturb any of the patients._

**~Can you point out which areas I'm not allowed to access? I don't want to get you into trouble.~**

Karin took Kurama around the clinic, pointing out which areas were restricted to animals.

"Eh? Where did this fox come from?" asked Ichigo.

"Ichi-nii, welcome home. This is Kurama. He kept following me around and he doesn't have a collar on him. Goat face said I could keep him," said Karin.

Ichigo held his hand out to the fox, who sniffed it before giving it a lick. Ichigo grinned and petted the fox on the head.

"He is pretty cool."

Karin grinned.

"Kurama shake," said Karin

**~Why should I shake?~**

_Because that way any weirdness you give off aside from magic tricks will come across as you being extremely clever or trained. Besides, if you do that then Ichigo won't notice if you read stuff or do weird things._

**~Sounds like fun!~**

Kurama placed his paw on Ichigo's hand, to the boy's surprise.

"I found out he's really well trained. It's almost like he can understand human speech," said Karin.

Ichigo grinned as he started to scratch Kurama's ears. It didn't take the boy long to find a really itchy spot and cause the fox's back legs to go nuts.

**~Your brother really knows where the itches are...~**

Karin grinned. Ichigo didn't show it often, but he was really a big softie. Yuzu had fallen in love with Kurama the moment she saw him.

_You might want to watch out for Yuzu. She'll probably turn you into a big ol' Kitsune doll that she can hug to death._

**~I'll keep that in mind!~**

* * *

Things progressed at a slow pace. Karin trained whenever she had the chance, taking full advantage of Blazing Soul's little training program during school. Her accuracy improved in strides thanks to that trick.

Kurama had been improving as well. Countless years sealed away in a sleep spell had caused his powers to drop to medium levels. Karin wasn't ready to learn the full extent of his abilities just yet...or the fact that he could help her in more ways than just fighting by her side.

Everything seemed to settle into a familiar pace...until the two happened to sense something far beyond the Earth's atmosphere. An explosion of sorts...and something fell all around Japan. A few landed in Karakura.

_What was that?!_

**~Sounded like an explosion inside space-time. Someone's ship must have gotten hit by something!~**

_HUH?!_

**~There used to be a lot of people with the ability to go through space and time to other planets. I think a transfer ship might be hit. Whatever they were carrying must have dropped on Earth!~**

_We will have a talk about this later! First, can you tell where whatever it is fell?_

**~Sure. Whatever it is, the smell of magic is strong. Possibly Lost Logia class.~**

Karin ran hard, following Kurama. His nose was extremely accurate, and he had already memorized the scent of her family.

**~Karin, the scent is strongest here! Be careful!~**

"Blazing Soul, staff form only. Too many witness for my barrier jacket," said Karin.

_~As you wish, Master Karin.~_

The torch staff appeared. Whatever it was had to be strong, because Karin could feel the waves of magic.

She slowly went to the feeling of magic. And found an odd jewel like thing in the bushes.

_~Warning. Classification: Lost Logia. Designation: Jewel Seed number 12. It is inadvisable to allow it to activate.~_

_What can we do, Blazing Soul?_

_~Sealing is recommended at this point.~_

_How do I do that?_

_~Simply will me to seal the artifact, and I will turn into the appropriate form.~_

Karin concentrated, and the torch became a blade of flame. It gently tapped the jewel...and Karin could feel her magic moving.

_~Sealing. Receipt for Jewel Seed confirmed.~_

Karin sighed with relief.

"Things are about to get a lot more hectic around here, aren't they?"


	2. Chapter 2

Karin knew something big was happening when she felt one of the odd jewels activate.

She ran hard to the scene...and found a girl she vaguely knew from her brother. Orihime Inoue, a girl with hair as orange as her brother Ichigo. She was in his class, though she didn't actually hang out in his circle. He mostly knew her through Tatsuki.

Orihime had gotten her hands on one of the jewels. The thing was lighting up like a firework.

The strange thing was that for some reason it wasn't going totally out of control. Something about Orihime was keeping it in check.

Karin watched as a blue haired girl with sapphire blue eyes overlapped with Orihime's body.

**~It can't be. Lady Eria?~**

_Eria?_

**~Lady Eria, the Water master. She and Mistress Hiita tended to fight, but they were as close as sisters. She possessed similar magic to Mistress Hiita.~**

_What should we do, Kurama?_

**~Our best bet is to retrieve the jewel seed...and see if Raging Waves is around.~**

_Is that anything like Blazing Soul?_

**~Mistress Hiita wasn't the only one targeted. All of the Charm Schools were. She was the first to awaken in this case.~**

_Right now we need to seal that blasted jewel!_

Karin quickly sealed the jewel. It was in the process of doing so that she found an odd blue sphere so similar to her own. Only it looked more like a water drop.

_~Master Karin, that appears to be Lady Eria's device.~_

_So it was nearby?_

_~It is possible that the jewel merely awakened her spirit enough for you to see Eria. If you give the girl Raging Waves, she should be able to synch with Lady Eria.~_

_I'll ask her before I give it to her though._

* * *

At first Orihime was skeptical, but once Karin displayed her barrier jacket she was all for it.

When Karin handed over Raging Waves, Orihime felt the connection.

"Basically, you let it do most of the work at the beginning until you start to get the hang of it. If you want to learn spells, I usually train at that abandoned hospital," said Karin.

~Raging Waves, Set Up.~

The water around Orihime turned her hair blue and like Karin her clothes changed.

"This is so cool!" gushed the girl.

"If my experience is anything to go by, her familiar will show up in a few weeks. My advice is to start training so it will have something to go on," said Karin.

* * *

Orihime turned out to be just as adaptive as Karin had. Within a few weeks she had bounded with Eria's old familiar, which she named Mamoru. Between the two of them, the jewel seeds near Karakura were sealed away from the general public. It seemed as though things were going smoothly.

Until Kurama told the girls that the scent was stronger in the next town over.

That town was Uminari. Ichigo often went there for Kendo lessons, since he was told that someone there practiced real fighting not the tournament style that was so prevalent today.

So Karin asked to join him on the train ride there. Ichigo went every Saturday.

Orihime would continue learning about magic through Raging Waves while Karin went to investigate the jewel seeds in the next town.

Little did they know what would happen because she went there.

* * *

"So the family you train with is the Takamachi?"

"Yeah, they have a daughter about your age so you can hang out with her until my practice is done," said Ichigo. After a talk with the Takamachi patriarch, Ichigo had decided to try his luck as a mercenary once he graduated high school.

"What's her name?"

"Nanoha. They recently got a pet ferret named Yuuno-kun, though I have no idea who came up with that one."

While Karin waited on the train with her brother, her mind was racing.

A girl about her age, and recently got a pet ferret with a ridiculous name. It was quite possible Nanoha was like her.

Nanoha could be a mage.

* * *

"Konnichiwa, Karin-chan!" said Nanoha. She had reluctantly taken a break from hunting jewel seeds so that she could show Ichigo's younger sister around town.

"Konnichiwa, Nanoha-san. Hope I didn't ruin your Saturday by coming with my idiot brother," said Karin with a grin.

"Oi, remember who agreed to bring you brat," said Ichigo in good humor.

"It's no problem. I've been meaning to take a break anyway," said Nanoha. Her 'ferret' was on her shoulder looking at Karin with suspicion. He sensed something wasn't right about her.

"So what should we do?" asked Karin.

"We could always take a walk..."

"Sounds good to me. Kurama, you want to walk or ride?"

The fox barked and jumped on her shoulder. Holding a four way conversation was easier if you rode.

**~So, I take it you guys know about those stupid jewels too, huh?~**

_**~Who said that?~**_

_~Chill Ferret boy. Kurama is my familiar.~_

_~Ano...are you guys mages as well?~_

_~I am after I accidental found this jewel six months ago. Ever since then I've been exercising my powers and I've gotten to be a pretty good shot. How about you?~_

_~I found Yuuno laying in the park and decided to help him.~_

_**~I was the one who originally found the jewel seeds, and I felt it was my responsibility to get them back.~**_

_~Geez...you guys are as bad as my brother Ichigo. So what do you really want to do? Can either of you shoot your magic very well?~_

_~Well I've been doing my best but we haven't had much time to train the magic I have.~_

_~Would you like some help? I've been mostly self taught, but I have learned a few tricks thanks to my device.~_

_~I would really appreciate it, Karin-chan.~_

Karin ended up helping Nanoha deal with the only other mage trying to collect the jewels. Since Karin had just disengaged her device, the other girl didn't seem aware of the fact there were three mages there.

By the time night fell, Karin was more than ready to go home...as soon as she set up a good place to teleport so she wouldn't have to keep taking the train every day.

* * *

Over the course of a week, Karin helped to train Nanoha in between hunting the jewel seeds. Yuuno had taken a look at her device and had come out surprised by what it was.

Karin had accidentally found a unison device that was working at half efficiency. It apparently required an outside source of power to fully awaken the true soul of the device. At the moment, Yuuno had no idea what the outside source was. In all likelihood it had already been lost.

Karin struck the tree and collected the seed before Nanoha and Fate could accidentally awaken it during their fight. Since she was a neutral party, she would hand over the seed to whoever won the fight.

The only problem was that the fight in question had been called off by an outside source.

"I'm commissioner Chrono of the Time Space Administration Bureau!"

"And?" said Karin. Whoever this kid was, he didn't impress her one bit.

"I'm afraid you'll all have to come with me. We need to sort out this mess you three have caused with the jewel seed retrieval," he said bluntly.

"Listen Kid, unless I can confirm whatever credentials you claim to have, I'm not handing over the seeds I've collected. For all I know you could be an outside party who wants to use the power the stupid things have!"

Chrono glared at her, but conceded her point. Since the Bureau didn't have any outposts on Earth, it was difficult to prove he was who he claimed to be, and the jewel seeds were too strong to hand over to a stranger.

Fate scowled as she realized their fight would have to be put on hold with the Bureau now in the game.

She vanished before Chrono could stop her.

"Konnichiwa, Nanoha-san, Karin-san, and Yuuno-san," said Admiral Lindy.

"Hello Lindy-san," said Karin. She was a bit surprised by the fact Lindy put sugar and cream in her green tea, but didn't show it like Nanoha did.

"I hope my son's credentials have been confirmed?" asked Lindy smiling.

"Blazing Soul, release our Seeds," said Karin.

~Jewel Seeds 13, 12, 21, 20 and 11, release.~

"I thought you said you collected 6 of them Karin-chan?" asked Nanoha.

"I collected five. A classmate of my brother's has the other one. She's still getting used to learning healing magic. She hates fighting."

"Would you mind telling me where you found a Lost Logia class Unison device, Karin-san? I personally don't mind but my superiors would like to know why it appeared now," asked Lindy.

"I was walking home when I found it. I thought it was a candy until I picked it up. It started talking that night and I tried it out the next day at an abandoned hospital. My dad told me that I was free to learn magic, so long as I kept my grades up and didn't get killed."

Karin had told him after she found another Unison device like hers that ended up being for one of the stronger Charm Masters. To her surprise, it ended up bonding with her twin sister Yuzu, who had the weakest spiritual sense of the family. Shining Heart had a large arsenal of healing and supportive magic, since between the two of them Karin was the fighter.

Isshin was all for his children learning healing magic, since the did live in a clinic after all.

Karin got the feeling Ichigo would end up finding a device like they had. According to Blazing Soul, there was a device that was held by the lone male of the Charm Schools.

"Do you know the names of the devices?" asked Chrono.

~Blazing Soul, of the Charm School Fire. Raging Waves, of the Charm School Water. Shining Heart, of the Charm School Light. Eclipse Moon, of the Charm School Dark. Avalanche Spirit, of the Charm School Earth. Storming Gale, of the Charm School Air.~

"Thank you for telling me. We'll have to update the listings for them. Exactly how dangerous are these devices?"

~We choose our owners based on ability and the ability to sync with our former partner's personality. Chances of someone trying to activate us by force are next to zero. They must be similar to the original to even hear us.~

"Can we ask you about the Charm Schools later? There's very little information about them aside from a passing mention of a dark mage trying to use their power for evil."

~A dark sorcerer tried to gain their powers, but eventually sealed our masters away. They placed all their power and spells into us to keep him from succeeding.~

"So exactly how many seeds are still out there?" asked Karin.

"Nanoha-san has collected five, you've collected six with the help of a friend, and this other girl has around four. So around six at least."

"How many were there originally?"

"I found 21 of them," said Yuuno.

"Which reminds me...why were you pretending to be a ferret anyway? I'm sure Nanoha's parents would understand that she was helping you," asked Karin.

"It's easier to get around as a ferret. People don't notice if you're investigating something."

"Yeah, but being that small makes it easier for the monsters to eat you, like the ones in our town."

"Monsters?" asked Nanoha.

"Yeah. They have this weird roar, and they show up every once in a while. I've been seeing them more and more for over three months now. They have this hole in their chest and it seems a lot of people can't see them."

"Hole with a strange roar... Karin-san, can you see ghosts by any chance?" asked Lindy.

"My brother can see them better than I can. The monsters are really fuzzy to me."

"How interesting. I didn't know you could see Hollows, Karin-san."

"Hollows?"

"Fallen souls. Those who weren't guided in time to the after life, or who were eaten by other hollows. I can explain more later," said Lindy.

After that, Nanoha and Yuuno worked out the details of their assistance in retrieving the seeds. Meanwhile Lindy was telling Karin where she could find a good instructor in healing magic for her sister and the other girl. Chrono would help bring her fighting magic up to standard levels.

For a beginner, Karin had done remarkably well, but she needed polishing more than anything else at her age.

* * *

"Karin, welcome home!" said Yuzu.

"Hey Yuzu. Guess what," said Karin with a grin.

"Nani?"

"I found someone who can teach us healing magic. She said she could come by every Sunday to help us learn basic and higher spells."

"That's good to hear Karin. What's her name?"

"Haruka Tanaka. She'll be here in a few days. Which reminds me...dad, do you know anything about Hollows?"

Isshin stiffened.

"What makes you ask that?"

Karin gave him a look.

"Dad, I can tell you know something. You better come clean, because I've been seeing their forms a lot lately."

"Wait until after dinner when your brother comes home. With the way things are going, he'll need to hear this as well," he said defeated.

Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu listened to Isshin's explanation. Ever since Karin had found that device, her spiritual pressure had been rising. The same for Yuzu. The unison devices had a unique side effect of training what spiritual energies the two had to the point that they were seeing ghosts more clearly.

Fortunately they also seemed to be able to mask their spirit energy, which was possibly the only reason Hollows had yet to come after the two.

He dreaded to think of what would happen when Ichigo found his own device. His energy was already spilling out of him.

Ichigo seemed to take the news that the monsters would eventually target the siblings fairly well. He decided to up his training with Kyouya to compensate.

Hopefully he would find his own device, or buy one, before it got to that point.

"I wouldn't worry too much Ichigo. You have another year or two before the limiters I placed on your power break. As it stands, you definitely need to learn how to control it on your own before the energy gets too strong."

"Limiters?"

"Your spirit energy was growing faster than the girls, so I had a friend place a few limiters on you to keep the hollows from finding you."

"How strong are these things?"

"They aren't complete limiters. They just mask your signature until you're ready to handle the power. If you want, I'll introduce you to that friend of mine later. You too Karin, Yuzu."


	3. Chapter 3

Karin's schedule changed slightly after her father came clean about their power. While Nanoha and Yuuno helped the Bureau find the seeds, Karin trained with Yuzu in healing magic...and learned another sort of magic from a man named Tessai.

He was the man who placed the limiters on her brother. Ichigo wasn't happy to learn about them, but when he was told they would fall off on their own once he was able to handle the power properly, he let it go.

Karin turned out to be very good at any kido that used fire. Blazing Soul seemed to accept the odd spells with grace, despite the fact it used a slightly different energy than the one she had been using before.

Every so slowly, the Jewel Seed incident began to wind down.

* * *

"A fight with the blond girl?" asked Karin.

"It seemed to be the best option we have to retrieve the seeds she's collected," explained Nanoha.

Nanoha and Karin still met up every once in a while to chat, despite her helping the Bureau. Her friends accepted Karin's appearance with grace, since she fit right in.

"So what's her name?"

"Her name is Fate. How's your spell training going?"

"It's progressing better now, since Dad fessed up to knowing another magic user. Tessai-sensei says I have a real knack for destructive magic. He mentioned teaching me some of the more power intensive spells next month."

"How's your healing training?"

"Haruka-sensei said we both have a real talent for healing, but Yuzu and Orihime-san are better than I am."

"Kyouya-nii said Ichigo-san is really progressing at his sword training. Ichigo-san might earn his rank sooner than Nii-san expected."

"Ichi-nii's been really motivated lately."

"So...have you seen any ghosts around here?" asked Nanoha nervously.

"I think we have more back in Karakura. There isn't any nearby... Except for that one across the street."

Nanoha looked at where Karin was pointing, but didn't see anything.

"I can't see it."

"It's a woman, about in her thirties . I think she got hit by something. She's by that tree near the sign."

Nanoha looked, but still didn't see a thing.

"You can't see her?"

"No."

"I wonder why I can. Yuzu can sense them, but she says they're mostly blurry. Ichigo can see them really well too."

"I'm kinda glad I can't see them. Ghosts are scary."

"I guess they would be to anyone who hasn't grown up seeing them. They can't actually bother you, but they can be a little annoying when they hang around you all the time."

The two chatted about magic and enjoyed their day off.

* * *

Karin opted to join Nanoha and watched the fight. She was the mediator of the Jewel Seeds, and would hand over all the ones Fate and Nanoha had already collected. Since she wasn't fighting, Fate couldn't claim the ones she had found.

Karin watched as flashes of pink and yellow clashed. Nanoha wasn't nearly as used to fighting with magic as Karin was. Then again, she had gotten her magic only recently and had been focusing mostly on retrieval rather than practicing her magic.

Finally there was a massive blast of pink, and the battle was over. Karin went to hand over the seeds when she felt something coming.

~Barrier Mode.~

A blast of lightning hit her, and it was only the barrier Blazing Soul threw up at the last second that kept her from being fried. The seeds she had on her were loosened by the blast and all twelve came out.

Fate looked worse for wear, and she could barely keep flying.

"So what do we do now?" asked Karin. She had healed once Yuzu was told about the hit.

Karin could see that Yuzu was interested in the ferret boy once she properly met him. Karin wished her sister luck, because she knew she could trust Yuuno to be a perfect gentleman.

"We're going to assault the Garden, now that we know where it is," said Chrono.

"How long?"

"Give us a few hours and we'll be close enough to port there," said Lindy.

"In that case..." said Karin, as she grabbed Yuuno's collar.

"Come with me Ferret Boy...we have some things that need to be discussed."

"Ahhh! Karin-san!" said a squirming Yuuno.

"Can it!"

Yuuno was mortified to have a talk with Karin about his intentions towards her twin. Then again, at least he knew that Yuzu liked him back, even if it was their first meeting. She was his kind of girl, gentle and easy-going. And Yuzu had a thing for the intelligent type.

Karin preferred the calm, collected and strong type. And he had to be able to keep up with her.

* * *

"Emergency! Jewel Seed Activation in progress! Evacuate the Garden immediately!" the alarm blared.

Karin was on her way to the dock with Nanoha and Chrono. Yuzu was more of a support type, and she was with Fate.

"Blazing Soul, Set Up!"

~Stand By Ready, Set Up~

Karin did a quick change into her Unison mode. She had gotten faster at it while working with Tessai and Haruka. Since she was a combat-type, she needed to be able to change quickly and efficiently.

"**Boss, wait up!"** said Kurama. He jumped onto Karin's shoulder right as they ported into the Garden.

"I guess now's the time all that training get's put into practice?" said Karin.

"Do what you can, but if it looks too dangerous fall back to the ship. I don't want to have to explain to your twin and older brother why I allowed you to get killed," said Chrono.

"Like I'll let some robot kill me~!" said Karin, using her fire whip to take out three robots. Her basic spells had gotten an upgrade thanks to her training with Tessai.

"**You tell 'em Boss! Let's go wild!"**said Kurama. He had taken to calling her Boss after the way she handled the boys in her neighborhood during their soccer games.

Karin and Chrono made short work of the robots sent their way as Nanoha and Yuuno made it deeper into the center of the Dimensional Quake.

Suddenly a larger robot came at them, and she couldn't immediately destroy it. She could only block it's attack. When she closed her eyes, she heard Kurama cry out in shock.

"**Boss!"**

_**~Perhaps now you are ready for the next step, Kurosaki Karin. Repeat after me...Familiar Mode, Release.~**_

"Familiar Mode, Release!"

Kurama jumped towards her, and she could see his form becoming longer and more powerful. Blazing Soul's coloring changed to a fiery red as the flames became bigger.

~Familiar-Possessed Mode Activated. Now incorporating familiar magic.~

Kurama started to circle her as his magic amplified her own. Karin felt her body grow taller and her limbs grow longer, as if she had aged a few years in an instant.

With the magic boost, she was able to destroy the robot.

"Karin-san, what...?" said Chrono in shock.

"**This is the second stage of the Charm School power. Familiar Possession allows you to amplify your magic with the power of your chosen familiar. It also allows you to use the stronger forms of magic at a smaller cost," **said Karin, though her voice sounded odd.

"Karin-san, how...?"

"**Hiita implanted her personality into the device along with her magic. Only she can unlock Familiar mode and the final form,"** said Karin.

"How many forms are there?" asked Chrono.

"**Initial, Familiar-Possession, and Final. It goes from fifty, to seventy-five, to full unlock."**

Karin blasted ten robots with her improved magic, and it was clear how strong the new form was. Kurama seemed to merge with her, amplifying the magic beyond what she was capable before. His form draped around his partner like a scarf, and his eyes glowed bright red.

Karin looked up.

"**It appears Fate has entered the battle. We need to go, now,"** said the girl.

The two started running to where Nanoha and the others were. Aruf had come earlier, sure that Yuzu would protect Fate. Yuzu was a kind person, much like Nanoha.

"Karin-chan!" said Nanoha.

"**Healing Plus."**

Nanoha was surprised at how strong Karin's healing magic was. Yuuno's wasn't nearly as good.

"Karin-chan, what happened to you?" asked Nanoha.

"**The second stage of my Unison Device was unlocked. I'll go back to normal once this fight is over, don't worry."**

Karin looked at Fate, who had taken quite a nasty shock.

**~Healing~**

Fate could feel all her pain going away with the spell. The red-haired girl was very good at them, despite being a combat-type.

"Thanks," whispered Fate.

"**You're welcome. You need to settle things with that woman, or you'll never be able to move forward. I do have one piece of advice, Fate-chan. Trust in Nanoha. Despite being a bit of an air head, she is worth trusting,"** said Karin.

"HEY!"

Karin was among the first to make it back to the ship once the place started to fall apart. Behind her were Chrono, Yuuno and Lindy. Nanoha, Fate and Aruf managed to make it back before the whole thing fell into the dimensional void. They were all exhausted, magically and emotionally.

However, there was one thing that could be said of the incident.

It was almost over with. All that was left was how to deal with Fate and Aruf. Fortunately since they were only collecting the things, the sentence should be relatively light. It didn't hurt that Fate hadn't done too much damage or killed anyone.

Since Yuuno was sticking around for a few months, Yuzu decided to join Ichigo on his trips to Uminari so she could see him. Karin might join her occasionally, if she felt like it.

* * *

"ARGH! Blasted Hollows!" cried Karin.

Ever since she unlocked her device's second stage, hollows had started to notice her. The stronger ones didn't seem to pay any mind to her, but the weaker ones kept attacking. It was possible that the shield that hid her power from them was weakening.

Normally this wouldn't bother her, but her father and kido teacher had hinted about a third-party who could take offense to her existence. A group called Soul Reapers.

Isshin had mentioned that he used to be one until an incident where he had to give up his post and came to the world of the living where he met their mother.

According to him (and confirmed by Tessai) the Soul Reapers would try to seal her powers because she drew hollows to her. They wouldn't like the fact she was training her powers outside their control.

They really wouldn't like the fact that she could take out hollows with Kido despite still being alive.

Fortunately Karin was usually off planet every time the soul reapers had sent someone to investigate the strange readings. And Yuzu only trained on weekends, unlike her sister.

Isshin was still waiting for the limiters to break on Ichigo before he explained any more about the Soul Society. Between the three of them, Isshin believed Ichigo would be the one to interact with that group most.

From what he could tell, the limiters would break sometime after Ichigo's fifteenth birthday. Possibly sometime around May if he was right.

Karin blasted the hollows and felt them vanish. She set down close to home before she went inside. Tessai had shown her how to make wards to keep the monsters away, since the ones Isshin had placed around the clinic were starting to break down thanks to the spirit energy Ichigo was letting off.

"Another rough night, Karin?" asked Isshin.

"Those blasted Hollows keep bothering me during my flight!" complained Karin.

"You have been practicing your kido on them right?" asked Isshin.

"Yeah, I have. I remember your warning, so I only use kido on them to keep the soul reapers from finding out."

"It's also to keep the balance. I don't know if your magic will purify them or destroy them, and it's better to be safe than sorry. Using kido keeps the soul society from claiming that you are destroying the balance like the Quincy nearly did a hundred years ago."

"I know dad. How was the clinic?"

"Thanks to your new healing magic, the amount of time people spend here has gone down considerably. It seems they haven't figured it out yet, which can only be a good thing. How's practice?"

"I'll be on mid level attack spells next week. My trainers said that my willingness to practice is the reason why I'm so good, and I can control the second stage a lot better than before."

"How's Kurama?"

The fox appeared on Karin's shoulder and held up a paw.

"**Yo."**

"Take care of my daughter, you furry rat."

"**I ain't a rat!"**

Because of the fact Karin had discovered magic, the Kurosaki family was closer than ever. They no longer held any secrets from each other. If something new had come up, they let it out before it worried the others.

It didn't hurt that Isshin approved of Karin and Yuzu learning magic, and that he supported Ichigo's kendo hobby. While he was a bit annoying, they at least knew that they could trust him to back up their decisions.

Poor Nanoha was trying to keep it all a secret from her family, and having limited success with it. It was only a matter of time before it all came out.

Ichigo's ability to see ghosts had gotten stronger, which meant the limiter was starting to break.

He used that ability to help a ghost girl who had died recently. Some punks had skated too close to the small offering and had broken the vase without bothering to pick it up. From what the ghost had told him, these jerks had been doing this for a while now.

He didn't feel any remorse kicking their ass.

Once he had scared them into avoiding the area, he headed home. He was about to reach his street when he found an odd jewel, similar to the one's his sisters had. It was green colored one.

When he picked it up and didn't feel any connection, he knew that it wasn't the one he was waiting for.

The second he entered the house, Blazing Soul piped up.

~Presence of Storming Gale, confirmed.~

"Storming Gale?"

~Device belonging to the Charm School of Wind. Original owner, Wynn the Wind Charmer.~

"So not mine then?"

~Negative. Your energy is most similar to Master Dharc, master of the Dark Charm School of Magic. Your device would be the Eclipse Moon.~

"Oh well. What do we do with this one then?"

~Location of device owner unclear. Storming Gale will be held in storage until new owner is found.~

Ichigo released the device and Blazing Soul placed it into storage. Karin was taking a nap, so she didn't know about the new device.

Ichigo could only hope that he found his own device soon. It wasn't fun being so behind your younger twin sisters, and he wanted to be there to protect them. Not hang behind them.

Perhaps things would change soon.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ichi-nii!" cried Karin. A hollow had just broken through the wards, with Yuzu and Isshin badly injured. She just barely caught a glimpse of a woman wearing samurai gear before passing out.

Ichigo managed to run downstairs and saw his sister Yuzu in the claws of a hollow. He used what little control he had of his spirit energy to break the bind the soul reaper had placed on him, and ran outside.

Ichigo had joined Karin in a few sessions with Tessai, so he knew a spell or two.

"Hado 31: Pale Fire Crash!" cried Ichigo.

A blast of blue flame struck the hollow, and Ichigo ran to catch Yuzu. The girl was in shock he knew kido.

"Yuzu!"

"She'll live. But we need to get rid of this hollow first," said the girl.

In the end, Ichigo borrowed Rukia's power to awaken his own...even though the limiters caused a vacuum and sucked in practically all of Rukia's soul reaper power as a result. They were finally broken, but Rukia had become completely helpless.

* * *

"Neh, Ichi-nii. Did a truck really crash into our house last night?" asked Karin.

"A hollow attacked and the limiters were broken. At least I think that's what happened. For some reason my memory is really fuzzy."

"Thought as much. My wards are completely wrecked and it'll take a few days before I can lay down some new ones. Dad's calling the school for a day off, so Yuzu and I can try to remove what's left of the barriers. It will be easier to lay down fresh ones."

"I'll head to school anyway. If I need help I'll let you know," said Ichigo.

"Don't hesitate to tell us if something comes up."

A few hours later, Ichigo alerted Karin to the fact that a soul reaper had erased their memories.

And that he apparently had to take her place until she could get her powers back.

"So Ichigo...who's the bum in your room?" asked Karin.

"Rukia apparently thinks it's funny to hide in my closet. I haven't told her that you know she's in there."

"Tell her Yuzu doesn't appreciate the fact she's been swiping her dresses. How small is this girl anyway?"

"About your size," said Ichigo.

"And she's pretending to be a high school student?" said Karin incredulous.

"She a pushy, bossy brat who is blackmailing me into doing her job because the limiters sucked her power into me."

"Yeesh. How did she react when she found out you knew a few kido spells?"

"She was surprised and had problems believing me when I said I barely knew a few."

"Not my problem that you've only attending four classes," said Karin.

"I can't wait to see her face when she finds out you are better at kido than I am," grinned Ichigo.

* * *

A month into his new duties as soul reaper, Karin was paralyzed by the spirit of the child inside Yasutora's new parakeet. She could feel the pain the child was in after seeing his mother struck down by the killer.

Karin clutched Ichigo's shirt from the pain she was in. It really sucked being the family empath some days. There was a reason why she acted so tough.

"Ichigo...you must save that child! He's in so much pain..."

Ichigo knew Karin was feeling the kid's soul. She rarely cried, even when she was hurt. She never even shed a tear when she had some magical backlash and got burned.

(They learned an important lesson that day. Charmer Barrier Jackets only protect you from your element when the protection is on. Ever since then Karin had her auto protect on. She didn't even know it was an option!)

Ichigo made sure to leave Karin on the bed with the cover over her while Kurama kept an eye on her. He ran like hell to find Rukia and Chad to take out the hollow and free the trapped soul. From what Karin had told him, this hollow was a real piece of work.

He couldn't help but sympathize with the poor kid because of the fact he was doing this to see his mother again.

If he had a chance, he might have played this game too, just to see him mom again.

When he caught up to the two, he had already taken out a few hollows guarding Chad.

Rukia had been hit pretty good while running. And Ichigo didn't waste any time killing the creep.

Once the soul was sent on to the next life, Ichigo decided it was long past time to let Rukia in on the fact that his family knew she was there. He dragged her back to the house through the front door and called for Yuzu, who was the best at healing magic in the family.

"Yuzu, we got a live practice dummy!" he called out.

"Coming Ichi-nii! Who's this?"

"This is the bum who's been swiping your clothes," said Ichigo with a grin.

Yuzu looked at Rukia with something akin to annoyance.

"You could have just asked."

Rukia was beyond confused, and it only grew worse when Yuzu activated her barrier jacket and cast a mid level healing spell that got rid of her wounds.

"Ichigo...what's going on here?"

"We quit keeping secrets in this family months ago. They knew you were here ever since you broke out of my closet to knock me out of the bed."

Isshin walked in and when he spotted Rukia grinned.

"So the Kuchiki girl finally came out of the closet?"

"Dad that is a horrible pun. And I dragged her through the front door. I'm tired of her sleeping in there."

"What the hell is going on? Why aren't you...?"

"More surprised? I have two daughters who are learning magic and a son who is a substitute soul reaper. I also have a soul reaper who's been hiding in my son's closet and broke what few wards we have against hollows in the area. Since Karin came out about her magic we don't keep big secrets like that anymore. Besides, I already knew about soul reapers."

Rukia's head was swimming with the new information.

At least now she could sleep in a proper bed, even if it meant sharing with the twins.

* * *

Karin came down, yawning. Yesterday had been exhausting. When she spotted Rukia, she looked at her brother.

"So she finally came out? It's about time," said Karin.

Rukia twitched. It would take some getting used to the fact that she didn't need to hide.

She still needed to get Ichigo that soul candy.

"Try not to be too late to class Rukia. Oh, and if I find out you caused a ruckus, you get to be Yuzu's practice dummy for the next week," said Karin.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Yuzu is the family healer, I blow stuff up. I can heal too, just not as good as she can."

Rukia hid a wince. She could see where this was going.

* * *

"Ichi-nii, why are you acting like a kangaroo?" asked Karin. She had left Kurama in her place. One of his special abilities happened to be acting as a body double for his master, which meant she could be in two places at once.

Ichigo looked at her, and she knew something was up.

"Okay, who the hell are you and what are you doing in my brother's body?" she asked again.

The mod soul explained his situation, and why he was in Ichigo. Karin didn't want an innocent to get killed simply for existing, so she agreed to help. She did ask he quit damaging Ichigo's reputation, since she had to live with the idiot.

An hour later Ichigo arrived with Rukia...followed by Tessai and his friend Urahara who reminded her too much of her dad. He was just as big an idiot.

On the plus side he paid good money for blackmail material on her brother. Why, she had no idea, but guessed he planned to use it when he finally started training Ichigo.

Meh, not her problem.

Before Urahara could catch the mod soul pill, Karin's snake-like fist grabbed it first.

"I promised him I wouldn't let him be destroyed simply because he was born. If you want to kill him, you'll have to deal with me," she growled.

Ichigo was of the same opinion, because he quickly joined her side.

Urahara opened that annoying fan of his and grinned behind it. As a mage, Karin wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Soul Society, which meant they couldn't legally touch her for claiming a mod soul. If it just happened to be used by her brother, they couldn't say anything.

"So just to be clear you're taking responsibility for that mod soul, correct?"

"I'm not letting him get killed," she repeated.

"In that case it's completely out of my hands! I can't exactly destroy a mod soul under the protection of a mage now can I?"

Karin handed the pill off to Ichigo.

"You get to explain to Dad why we have another one in the house," she said flatly.

Ichigo winced. At this rate they would have a menagerie.

* * *

Kon was surprised, then happy to learn that the Kurosaki clan didn't mind another person in the house. Though he had to share with Ichigo because he was a male soul and Isshin didn't particularly like the way he greeted Rukia in the mornings.

Ichigo quickly learned how to add his kendo training to his new sword, which looked like an oversized broadsword and was as long as he was tall.

It was really ridiculous looking. Isshin had a theory that the reason it looked so silly was because the power vacuum caused by the limiter breaking accidentally sucked in Rukia's sword along with her power, and that the sword wasn't compatible with Ichigo so he couldn't hear his.

It made more sense than Ichigo not meditating hard enough, because he had learned how to meditate while practicing his forms from Kyouya.

Every weekend, without fail, Ichigo went to the Takamachi house to practice with Kyouya. In fact Kyouya's father was looking into getting Ichigo his own sword, so long as he swore never to use it on others unless it was to protect.

Considering he had started kendo solely so he could keep his sister's safe, he could handle that. Kyouya already had a sword in his room.

* * *

A little after a month since Kon came to live with them, the Kurosaki clan prepared for their annual trip to Masaki's grave. They went every year on the day of her death.

Rukia came along too, discreetly of course, but Ichigo still found her. Kon was in her backpack.

Karin was about to go find Ichigo when she felt the presence of a hollow...a powerful one at that.

"Yuzu...do you have your device with you?"

"I...I left it at home," she stammered.

"Crap. Get behind me...I'm going to try a quick teleport. Either way you need to get Ichigo."

Karin wore her device like a necklace, and had gotten in the habit of putting it on every morning. It hadn't even occurred to her to leave it behind today. However Kurama had opted to sleep in today and was too far to help her.

The hollow was apparently smarter than the ones she had killed before, because it was quick to realize that the girls knew it was there and were ready to flee.

Karin wasn't fooled by the lure as she activated her staff's sword form. The fire only acted like it should when she wanted it, as Yuzu had found out by accident when she touched the flames while Karin was doing maintenance. Ichigo had gotten his sisters into doing weekly maintenance on their staffs, depending on how heavily they were used.

Blazing Soul and Shining Heart were the most pampered devices on Earth, and when Raising Heart learned of that fact she actually complained to Nanoha, which had shocked both the girl and ferret at the time.

"_Oh ho, a tiny soul reaper and a human. How fun!"_ sneered the hollow.

"Yuzu, get ready to run," hissed Karin.

Karin shot a fire whip at the hollow, and it screeched in pain. Yuzu took that chance to run for it, and her magic made it easier for her to go. Yuzu had taken up free running with Karin once she learned how to fly, as it made low altitude flying much easier. Isshin had told them they weren't allowed to learn parkour until they were Ichigo's age. And Ichigo wasn't allowed to try it until he got a device of his own so it could keep him from breaking his neck.

Karin's barrier jacket was on maximum power, as she blasted the hollow while trying to kill time until Yuzu found Ichigo. She had just been thrown into one of the graves when he finally arrived with Rukia and another soul reaper she didn't recognize. Rukia managed to heal most of the bruise that was already forming where she had landed. Thankfully the barrier jacket had kept her from any real damage, though with how hard she was thrown if she hadn't had it on she would have had back troubles for a month at least.

She could tell that much by the fact that the stone she had crashed into had been broken.

It was then she saw something wrong with how Ichigo was acting. He wasn't fighting like had trained.

"Ichigo, snap out of it you moron! Don't let that creep get to you!" yelled Karin.

Ichigo paused, and looked at his sister. He took a deep breath and calmed down. Facing their mother's killer didn't mean he could neglect his training.

Suddenly the tide turned, as Ichigo lopped off the hollows arms. The shriek he let loose was particularly satisfying.

The Hollow jumped into the lure and booked. Ichigo went to Karin who was still feeling like crap after the hit, despite the limited healing Rukia had done. She was talking to the other soul reaper who left.

During dinner that night, Ichigo revealed who that particular hollow was, and they knew why he had neglected his training to try to go berserker on it.

It was the same hollow who Ichigo had seen seven years ago. The one that had been at the river when their mother had been killed. It was entirely because of Grand Fisher than Isshin had Tessai place the limiters on Ichigo in the first place. He didn't want to lose his son to the hollow before he was old enough to fight back.

Ichigo finally forgave his father for the limiters. At the very least they had saved his life, since if he had kept seeing hollows at that age it would have gotten him killed rather quickly.

Isshin decided that now was the perfect time to explain his former position...and Rukia had the answer to something that was bothering her ever since she first felt Ichigo's spirit pressure.

She had wondered why he was so damn powerful...but being the son of a former captain explained everything.

The Kurosaki clan went to sleep, and prayed that things would calm down soon. Ichigo kept getting into more and more dangerous situations, and Karin couldn't ditch school as quickly as he could to help.


End file.
